30 July 2012

Today I would like to introduce you to Helen, I am sure you will enjoy reading about how Helen uses her very mixed collection of Filofax organisers.

My name is Helen and I have long said that my epitaph will be
"She died in an organised manner".

By day I am a lawyer, the irony
being that my current job provides me with staff whose sole job is to
organise my diary and present me with a list of appointments every day, a
fact I see as a distinct downside of the job as it deprives me of the
joy of planning!

By night and weekend I am an emerging textile artist
and am a member of the Twelve by Twelve quilt art group. I live in the
North West of England.

I love to plan travel, probably, even more than I
love the actual travel and accordingly have a freakish knowledge of
airline routings. Whenever I arrive at a European train station I want
to get on a train to another country just because you can.

I design
quilt kits for The African Fabric Shop (www.africanfabricshop.co.uk)
and am the author or co-author of six books. I love all things African.
Nothing makes me much happier than sitting in a well appointed cafe with
cake, tea, my iPad, a Filofax and a good novel.

I
know I bought a couple of organisers from Selfridges in around 1999
when I was doing a lot of travelling for work, the perk of which was
some London shopping time.I would have said from recollection that I
had a Personal Cherry Classic and a Personal Brown Cuban. However,
recently I found one of them in a memory box and... Shock! ... It was
not a Cuban, it was a knock off! So it is possible that my first genuine Filofax was an A5 Pink Classic I bought when I wanted a more creative
colour for my art organiser.2. What other brands have you used or considered using?

The
knock off was a Microfile and it has simply disintegrated. Horrible! I
have tried to understand the allure of the Dodo pad but I am afraid it
passes me by totally. So I am pretty loyal to Filofax now.

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)?

My A5 Cherry Classic. It feels really solid and business like in my hands and the colour is neither garish nor boring.

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

Ah
well that depends on the outcome of the Ebay Auction on going at the
moment! As I write I have eleven. None of which I have paid full price
for, I hasten to add! The hunt for a good price is part of the fun. And
part of reassuring my husband I will not remortage the house behind his
back to fund my passion. *

5. What do you use your Filofax for?

Short question, long answer necessary I am afraid...

(a) Personal
Mushroom Aston : this is my every day planner. It has a monthly, weekly
and daily diary. I have the Olympic inserts as my weekly diary and a personalised version of Ray and Steve's two pages to a day diary. I use
finance sheets to note my spending on and have a few sheets of notes.
To-dos go on the daily pages. This is carried with me.

(b)
A5 Cherry. This is my 'studio' journal and organises my textile art
practice which I take quite seriously. Sections include time recording,
project sheets for in progress works, calls for entry, ideas for
Articles, income/ expenditure, year planners, personal leaning plans (where I sort out what I want to learn in terms of new skills ) inspiration and evaluation of works completed.

(c)
A5 Pink. I have come to dislike the pepto - bismal colour of this and
may sell it to someone who is a pink girl in due course to justify a new
purchase. Brown and green is more me. I use this at work to make notes
on new statutes and case law. Homemade dividers separate topics like
Road Traffic Accidents and Domestic Violence from Child Law and Court of
Protection.

(d)
A4 Black Classic. Very serious looking! This contains notepaper (I
LOATHE the scratchy quality of the recycled paper we have to use at work
so I buy my own!) ,proformas, referral sheets etc. it keeps my desk
tidy. before I had it no matter how hard I tried paper would spread everywhere.

(e) Saddle brown Cuban A5. Sketchbook. Not nice drawings but notes and
inspirational clippings and scribbles that all relate to ongoing art
projects. So dividers at the moment include diverse topics such as kuba
cloth, transitions, Soweto riots and urban myths. A bound sketchbook
never worked for me as I do not work sequentially and I hated never
being able to find an idea from months ago that was now coming to
fruition.

(f)
Mustard Finchley. This was a gift and is the perfect colour for my
research notes on contemporary African art and artists. This has just two
sections. The first is a series of reading lists because every book Or
website I read seems to throw up twenty more names to research so I just
list as I read and then follow up whenever I have time. Then there is
an A to Z set of dividers containing notes on individual artists and
exhibitions.

(g) Olympic lineburst personal blue. I bought this for the inserts but
actually it has proved wonderful for a health filo and setting this up
has been key to me maintaining a good exercise habit which I never managed
before. I use a week with notes diary and use stickers to show that I
did exercise that day (red for cardio, blue for strength, green for
yoga) and note where I did it. The notes pages I use as a journal. i
have sections for health info, workout suggestions, goals and records of achievements, planned treats when my stickers show I met a goal (yes,
the Supernanny system works for adults too!) and yoga classes online to
try. Because it is cheap, both in price (£7 from staples) and in
construction I don't mind it being in my gym bag with sweaty clothes on
the way home! my dividers have pictures of athletes who inspire me with
space to add some from London 2012.

(h)
A5 Jade Finchley - due to a rejig this is awaiting new dividers. It is
now a combo life planning filo with monthly tabs for goals and a review
journal and a home filo with sections for recipes to try, planning the
garden redesign and the conversion of a garage to a dyeing studio, joint
finances etc.

(i)
A5 Chocolate Classic - this is the one I am also still setting up. It
is to accompany my very full cherry classic and will be what I am
calling my Prepared for Success Filo. As my at personal develops and as
the exhibiting group I have newly helped form also develops i know I
will need to know more about marketing, exhibitions spaces, social
media, photography etc. if the cherry is about my work now, this is to
be where I note what I learn in preparation for the future so I am ready
when opportunities come.

(j)
A5 Cuban chilli - using so many A5's works for me but it does mean that
sometimes I head for a cafe with an African basket full to the brim
with filos and my ipad. That's OK but less practical when I might get odd
moments here and there at work. I have just started to use this as the
centre of a hub and spoke system. Or a transit A5 if you like. All it
has is sheets of all the type soft paper I use in my various A5's and a
next step sheets on which I have listed a few things I need to do from
each of the other A5s. So right now I am in a cafe with that and ipad
and when this is done I see I plan to check out the price of garden
sheds, the Dak'art festival in Senegal and to read an art business
kindle sample. I make whatever notes I need to and every now and again
transfer them to the appropriate A5.

(k)
Personal Aston Orchid. Don't laugh but I bought this because it
matches my bedroom decor and looks great on my dresser next to the bed
and a real orchid plant. It is a little underused as a gratitude journal
and repository of 'i'll do that one day' dream plans. But it looks
great sitting there all elegant!

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?

The flexibility to move pages around as things change. And the tactilty. I
am wedded to my iPad but I like the feel of writing notes on ipad
content on paper. Its a good practice too. Otherwise I surf and the
information washes by me and links get lost. Making notes keeps it in my
working memory and ensures I use and retain what I read.

7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?

An
electronic chip linkable to an iPad app so that I can send the Filo a
signal and the iPad will tell me which room of the house I left the Filo
in.8. How do you carry your Filofax?

Most
days I have a leather tote bag and the aston and the transit one go in
there with a bound journal and large amounts of other random rubbish. I
have a parking space at my work building so lugging it is not an issue.
Sometimes when I want to review the content of all my A5s (say on my
monthly reflection morning when I review my life goals) I put them all
in a woven African basket from Ghana and take them all for a day out.9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it?

No I am not. No.No.No.No.NO.

Maybe:)
I
have all the classic colours so there is no temptation there , but I
love the colour of the Cuban chestnut.. I meant to buy that on ebay but
the vendor messed up and sent the saddle brown instead. I did a deal for
such a big compensatory discount off what was already a hugely reduced
price that it was worth keeping it but I still eye the chestnut. The Pennybridge looks intriguing for travel. And I am wondering if I ought
to try one of these Maldens people rave over. Maybe some floppiness in
my life would be a good thing?! *

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which model?

£75 for the pink A5 classic. The one I love least and have least used!

11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most?

The
Community. The ability to join in and belong. I confess that I stumbled
on Philofaxy when surfing on an entirely different topic and took it to
my husband to show him ," this crazy woman who has 28 Filofaxes". I am
now educated and know that either (a) you are not crazy at all and I
wholly apologise or (b) you are crazy as a coot but I am right there
with you and cannot throw any stones

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

No
one ever puts on adspot the discontinued model I really want to buy. I
am not telling you which it is because that will only encourage you to
hike the price if you do sell one!

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?

Lupercalia
by Patrick Wolf. I am glad that was my last one otherwise I would have
had to confess to the one before that which was Better Day by Dolly
Parton.

Helen

* Darn it. I need to work on my
willpower. Correction. I own Twelve. My bid at 45 seconds to go for an
A5 ochre malden was successful. Sorry if you were the other bidder! I'll
let you know how I get on with it.

Thank you Helen, I think that must be a first, in the length of time it took to conduct your interview your ownership of Filofax organisers increased... must have been those enabling vibes travelling down the wires...

Your blog post could appear here next week if we missed you this
time around. Email us the details and we will include it if we can.

We can't guarantee people will read your posts, but we know there is
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and tips. Don't forget to give your posts a title...

26 July 2012

A big thank you to Marcia for her Guest Post showing us around her Compact Holborn.

The Compact Holborn has 15mm rings, in comparison with 23mm in most personal Filofax. It has a nice, slim profile. The brown is a nice chocolate color; there is some shadowing in the photos.

Inside front has six slots for credit cards

Standard business cards don't fit

There is a deep pocket that opens from the left

There is one that opens from the right.

The right-opening pocket is harder to access, but one is less likely to lose things out of it. Inside the pockets is fabric, but note the rest of the interior is leather, which will wear better especially under the rings.

I use three top tabs (lists, diary, plans), with lined sheets in the first and last sections. In the diary section I have a fold-in yearly overview with this diary.

Shipping from Filofax France adds to the cost, but this is the format that works for me. The compact holds everything I need as I have a separate work planner that stays on my desk.

The back has the same left- and right-opening pockets as the front and nothing else. You can see the smooth leather between them

Note that there is no zipped pocket as in the personal Holborn. The pen loop is elasticated on the side showing in the photo and you note is sewed to the outside of the planner edge so it doesn't interfere with the pages-though I don't have side tabs. A Sigma Micron fits nicely in the loop, which was tight the first couple of times I used it but is fine now. A Lamy Safari could be forced in but would be a struggle. (And not healthy for the pen loop.)

25 July 2012

One of the main complaints many of us have about Filofax inserts (besides the paper quality) is the lack of month-on-two-pages inserts that allow you to splice weekly, daily or notes pages between the months.

The Filofax month on two pages inserts are printed back to back, which means when you turn the page the following month is printed on the backside of the page. Contrast this to some other brands such as Franklin Covey which has notes space on the backside of the monthly pages. This allows you to embed the months in the weekly pages or add Financial pages, notes, goals, or anything else you want between the months. This is not possible with months printed back to back.

I decided not to buy Franklin Covey monthly inserts because the pages are slightly wider than Filofax inserts, and would obscure my tabs behind. So, like so many Filofax users (see Tim's extreme example here), I decided to hack my own Filofax solution.

I bought two Filofax Month On Two Pages inserts for 2013, and spliced them together. Here's the result:

The first page looks normal, January across two pages.

Then turn the page and you see February on the back side of the January page at the left, and January on the back side of the February page on the right:

Then turn the page again and there's February across two pages:

Then turn the page again and it's March on the backside of the February page and February on the backside of the March page coming up. I'll white out the month names on the back sides of the pages to reduce confusion as to which pages are actually the months and which are the back sides of the pages.

Turn the page again and it's March across two pages:

And so on for the rest of the year.

As you can see, it's not an ideal solution. But it does allow me to insert pages between the months which is what I was going for.

Filofax, please take note! We are desperately trying to adapt your system to our needs, but could really use more inserts options!

23 July 2012

We had to get a new 'low energy bulb' for our 'spotlight', but Gromit found one on the interwebs, whilst I was persuading some willing victims, sorry I mean volunteers to stand under it.... and this week I would like to introduce you to Alice.

I'm Alice and I have just turned 21. I study Aquatic Zoology at University and I live in the UK. I have a menagerie of pets including snakes, spiders
and insects and I am very family and friends orientated.

I have a
passion for....stationery, Filofaxes, organic make-up etc as well as
animals. My hobbies are reading and studying and spending time with my
multi-species family!

1. When did you buy your first Filofax and what was it?
It was an organiser from Paperchase - not strictly a Filofax but the
are just an unbranded version, it was in 'Spring Scene' and had fruit,
flowers and animals all over it, very colourful! It is the equivalent of
pocket size but had quite small 14mm rings. I got loads of inserts for
it....kraft paper, dividers and stickers and soon filled it with a lot
of Filofax bits and bobs too!!2. What other brands have you used or considered using?
I use anything which will fit in it, from Paperchase inserts to
Filofax and with a lot of custom dividers etc which I added. The motto
is; 'if it fits and I like it, its going in the Filofax!'. My boyfriend
thinks I'm obsessed, maybe I am a little.

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite
(Style and Size)?My favourite is my Pink Pocket Baroque
which was given(!) to me by a lovely lady called Andrea. I donated some
money to the Philofaxy charity in acknowledgement of the gift she gave
me.It has such lovely big rings - 19mm I believe. I can fit so much
in her, and she is so soft and squidgy and supple. And her pattern is
gorgeous!!

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?
I am ashamed to admit I have only got (and have only ever had) the 2 Filofaxes in Pocket. I have had school planners for most of my life or
just simple 'week to a page' diary's from WH Smith for 6th form etc.

5. What do you use your Filofax for?
Everything!! For things to do, appointments, birthdays, University,
to record my life generally. I don't write anything personal in it like
feeling etc - just bits and bobs i need to remember to get on in life.

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?
If you do something wrong you can just rip out the page and start
again! I was always the person who would write perfectly to the end of a
page and then make a massive mistake on the last line and then have to
rip it out and do it again. I hate things looking messy so the
changeability of Filofax really appeals to me.

7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?
Soft leather, big rings and most of all COLOUR!! I have found that Filofax colours are just so...plain/boring. There is no pattern, no
colours just muted, understated chic leather Filofaxes and the odd
'special' ones they bring out like Swift - which do appeal to me but
feel so......hard and fake!It would also have a sort of thread
through fastening - like the Baroque appears to have - instead of a
popper/magnetic one which so many feature. I quite like the idea of an
elastic one like the Domino but made a bit better perhaps (if that is
possible) and on a leather diary or just something a bit less...plastic?8. How do you carry your Filofax?
She goes in my handbag with all my other junk - she gets bashed
around a fair bit and gets bits of crap in her pages when i don't clean
my bag out for a couple of days :(9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are
you going to buy it?
Hmmmmm....let me look at Filofax UK. The Pocket Zip Pennybridge in
purple was one of my 'ones to consider' before my Baroque came
along....but she is so...plain, even in the purple. I like the material
of the Osterley but at that price I have no chance - more chance that
little piggies start to fly than me possessing that one!! It has the
wrong fastening for me too.10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which
model?
Erm...nothing I suppose. My first was a gift from my boyfriend and
the second cost me a donation to charity of £20 - so I guess its the
Baroque at 20! But the amount I've spent customizing them is a lot more
than the actual diary's ever cost!11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most?
That there are geeks like me who love stationery!! And lots of
lovely people who are really helpful and generous with their time. And
so much information is available!12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?
I have noticed no-one ever puts anything here!! Maybe more posts
would be good - but then you don't all want to be tied to your
computer/Filofax blog!

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?
Dear lord....Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday Reloaded. Cringe.

We love receiving Guest Posts, but they have to be about Filofax obviously... we do get guest posts sent in that are only looking to advertise some unrelated service on our blog... naturally these don't get on to the site, nor do we bother to reply to the emails these days.

However, don't let us put you off writing for Philofaxy it really is very easy. All you need to do is put the text of your post in to an email, you don't even need to use Word.

If you have some photos to go with your post, attach them separately to the email and put an indicator in to the text where you would like the photos to appear [photo1 or IMG2342] and we will do the rest.

Your post doesn't need to be long with lots of words, pictures can save a lot of words.

Please send your guest posts to philofaxy [at] gmail [dot] com

Since publishing this post we have had several budding writers contact us but none of them have offered posts about Filofax.... hence this update. Let's be clear.

Philofaxy will only publish guest posts about Filofax Organisers and other brands of ring bound organisers.

Please don't contact us if your post is about life assurance, education, summer fashion, weddings and any other non-Filofax related topic.

This "summer" in the UK has been cool and wet, while in many places in the US it's been even hotter than usual for this time of year. For those of us who note temperatures and weather in our diary pages, this year will be interesting to look back on later!

In addition to temperatures, some people also write things like when they see the first migrating birds arrive in the spring and last departing ones in the autumn, then look back through the years to notice trends (when some species arrive earlier than usual, for example). Other people note when the leaves turn color and fall in the autumn, which years have good or not-good colors (due to drought or other factors) and then look back through the years to notice if the leaves come down earlier or later in the year than usual.

Do you note weather and temperatures in your Filofax to look back on later? Do you note any annually occurring events to track trends?

And as usual on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything Filofax-related!

19 July 2012

Many thanks to Deborah for this fantastic review of her new Ostrich Filofax!

The “Roadrunner” of Filofaxes: The Ostrich

Philofaxy’s Laurie graciously offered to feature my review of my latest purchase. I have to admit that I was a little nervous (and very excited) about doing it for two reasons: 1) I searched endlessly for a review of this binder and could not find one single review, and 2) I’ve been toying with the idea of starting my own blog, but have no idea if I can pull it off so this will be practice.

Thank you, Laurie and Philofaxy for featuring this. I hope that you all enjoy!

Please meet my biggest splurge ever…my Personal Ostrich in Buttercup! My obsession with this binder began when I saw Ro’s spotlight interview on Philofaxy and saw a picture of her ostrich binder. I hadn’t known that Filofax offered an ostrich leather binder. After months of obsessing I did it! I bought the binder at a very “reasonable” price from Pens & Leather. And here is my review:

Packaging It arrived in a black Filofax box and was wrapped in a thick, soft felt-like black cloth. Nice!

The Outside The leather is unlike any other leather I’ve seen or felt. It is incredibly soft, all of it, including the quill bumps. I was afraid that the “bumps” would be hard but they are soft as well. The binder has some type of cardboard-like material between the leather that gives it structure but doesn’t take away from the supple and soft leather. According to my research, ostrich leather is full of natural oils – so it resists drying and cracking - and also has collagen qualities that make it very strong, supple, and pliable. I love the way that the binder feels in my hand. I’ve been holding and “petting” it every chance I get.

The quill bumps give it a very nice and interesting texture that is just plain fun to touch. The leather between the quills has a very subtle wrinkle pattern…nothing overpowering.

I chose the Buttercup color hoping that it would be more of a tan color (and not a yellow/butter color). Fortunately I was right. It is a nice rich tan/beige color.

It has a snap closure on the clasp and no other outward detailing (besides the quill bumps). Interestingly enough, it does not have the embossed “F” on the outside spine.

The Inside The binder laid flat right out of the box! It is all ostrich leather on the inside except for the lining in the pockets and slots that is a nice cream-colored satin material. It compliments the color of the leather very well. The inside leather is slightly more wrinkled than the outside. The ring size, according to Filofax, is 7/8” (23mm) and the binder has a ring protector flap on either side of the rings. Okay, onto the layout details!

The left side has “Filofax, Made in USA, Genuine Ostrich” embossed in the leather. The ring protector flap partially covers the 8 credit card slots and the inside full-length pocket. There is also a full-length pocket on the outer edge. It reminds me a lot of the Holborn layout – plenty of pockets and slots! This was a pleasant surprise. One downside about the credit card slots is that they are very tight and it takes some finessing to get cards in and out of there. Hopefully with time it will stretch a little bit.

The right side has two full-length pockets similar to the left side. It also has a zippered flat pocket that has a protective “flap” over the zipper. I really like this feature since the zipper won’t damage the last page that is in the binder. There is one non-elasticized pen loop that fits a “regular-sized” pen/pencil; thicker writing instruments probably won’t fit.

Moving In/Space Once I had the binder in my happy little hands, I had to immediately move everything over from my Personal Holborn (which, according to Filofax, has 15/16” rings - (23mm)). As you can see from the picture, my Holborn was packed, and yes, I could still snap it closed!

Because of the perspective, it looks like the Holborn is smaller than the ostrich; it isn’t. Well, I wasn’t able to fit everything into my ostrich binder and had to leave out the pictured stack. The bulkiest item was my envelope full of stickers that I now carry separately in my purse. A concession I’m happy to make because….

Overall Impression I really love this binder! It was definitely a splurge but so worth it. I’m worried that my other 13 or so binders won’t be used now because I can’t see myself moving out of this binder any time soon (if ever!). I may have found my “one true Filofax”.

I think the binder has a very classic and unique look about it. The leather is very soft and supple and a pleasure to touch and hold - I find that I’m choosing to hold it when going from place to place rather than carrying it in my purse - a first for me. I’m very pleased with my investment and in my opinion, the challenges to the binder (tight credit card slots and the smaller rings) are something that I can happily live with because it is, to me, just so beautiful.

18 July 2012

St Davids, St Thomas and St James Park are all railway stations in which
English city?

In a normal 'Double Six set of Dominos there are 28 tiles, how many pips are there in total?

On what date did Steve join Philofaxy as a contributor?

Send your answers to all questions in to philofaxy at gmail dot com with the Subject 'Domino' Please include your name and mailing address as well as your answer.

Please do not post the answer in the comments.....

Closing date is 19 July at 18:00 UK British Summer Time. The winner will be announced on Friday 20th July.

This quiz is open to all Philofaxy readers, where ever you are in the world.

And the winning entry pulled out of the hat for the Swift in Sage was...Sally. and the answer was of course Anglesey in North Wales, thank you for all your entries, over 100 entries were received before the closing time.

Now that I'm trying to become homeowner, I have to stick to a strict budget. I know Personal Finances 101: the first step to sticking to a budget is to track all expenditures.

Last fall I used Expenses pages in my Filofax to track my expenditures, and it was really good except I never did anything with the information. This time it's for real: I have to calculate how much I'm spending each month on groceries, gas, and other expenses so I know if I'm sticking to the budget or if I'm overspending and need to cut back. So I write everything I spend into the Expenses pages in my Filofax, then at the end of each month I'll break down the totals by category.

For a few days I used my Aston as my wallet too. I used the full-length pocket inside the front cover for cash and the zip pocket in the back for coins. My cards went in the slots inside the front cover. But I discovered this was harder to deal with than my wallet. Maybe I'm just used to my wallet, but I found the Filofax-as-wallet was too fiddly. I had the cards and cash in the front, but had to flip to the back to fish out coins. I had to flip to the expenditures pages to write in the amount while waiting for my change or for my card to process. It just didn't work well for me so I went back to my wallet, and now I usually put my receipts in my wallet to write in later when I have more time.

In addition to tracking expenses, I'm tracking gas (petrol) usage to get an idea of how much my car uses. I have a sheet of paper where I write the Date, Place I filled up, Price per Liter, Number of Liters I bought, and Total cost. That way I can see how often I fill up, and see price trends so I know which places usually have the cheapest prices.

Recently I became a member of one of those bulk-buying stores. I keep a list in my Aston of things to buy there, because I plan to only go once per month or less so I need to keep a running list.

I'm also making a list of items I buy periodically (like printer ink cartridges) with price comparisons at different stores. Whenever I happen to be in each store, I'll write the price of each thing so the next time I need to buy, I'll know which store to buy at.

I'm compiling a list of one-time purchase items we'll need for the house. There are some big-ticket items, like a lawnmower and electric hedge trimmer, all the way down to more mundane things like a mop and bucket. I'll note prices at different stores so when it's time to buy these I'll know where to get them.

And, I'm making a wish list and gift list for myself and family members, so when something we want goes on sale I can remember to buy it.

Because this Filofax goes everywhere in my bag with me, I also write things down that I want to do in the local area or elsewhere in Scotland. I'm always seeing notices for cool events that are coming to the castles near me, concerts, cultural events and other fun stuff. Now with my Aston handy I can capture all this information before I forget.

Also, in the front of my Filofax I keep Emergency information and numbers, car insurance info, and the Home Sweet Home form from the Family Lifestyle Pack for quick-reference numbers for utility companies, phone/ internet and mobile providers, etc.

I don't use this Filo as my planner, but I do use a monthly calendar in it to record coupon expiration dates so I can use them before they expire. I also write in bills' due dates, and I keep a list of recurring annual expenses (car insurance x 2, MOT inspections and car tax x 2, Life and Accident insurance, Home insurance, etc.). Keeping a list of these dates and amounts due reminds me to save a little each month for these to avoid being surprised with a big outlay when they are due.

I have a Sticky Notes accessory because I use sticky flags to mark my lists. I refill the accessory with tape flags from Tesco.

I also have my Filofax calculator on the rings for quick calculations.

And, I keep my contacts in the A-Z tabs for easy reference.

I use Business Card holders in the back of the Aston to hold business cards and my library card.

Sorry no photos but since this is all personal/ financial info there's nothing I can really show you! If you want more specifics just let me know. :)

A common theme here on Philofaxy is whether one should use only one Filofax. After all, the argument goes, I am only one person, I have only one life, therefore I should use only one Filofax.

Let me be quick to point out the difference between "One Life One Filofax" vs. "One Life One Planner."

I do understand using only one planner to plan your life. Sometimes people feel scattered using a planner for work and a different one for their personal life. Many time management experts recommend using only one planner for scheduling your days, to avoid things slipping through the cracks. After all, there is only one of you, and you occupy each day in its entirety, so it makes sense to use only one planner to schedule your time. (I don't do this, but it is a very streamlined way to live.)

Contrast this to Filofax. Keep in mind that a Filofax is a binder which has the potential to be used in endless ways beyond just a planner, or even not at all as a planner.

Early in my Filofax usage I felt like I should be able to fit my entire life into one Personal size Filofax, and I was very frustrated when I couldn't make it work. Then I realized it was unrealistic to expect one binder to hold every aspect of my life and my entire schedule.

Awhile back on Plannerisms I posted How many notebooks/ planners do you need to use? In that post I itemized the different types of places you need to capture your schedule, work notes, personal projects, lists etc. Some of these items can be combined, and some items can be stored electronically. For example, some people keep their contacts electronically but their schedule on paper. Others keep their schedule electronically but write their lists on paper. The combinations are endless.

Of course Filofax binders can be ideal for categorizing by topic. I liken it to how I used a different notebook for each class at university. Using Filofax binders for different aspects of your life works really well. Some uses for a Filofax include crafting, garden planning, recipes, work projects, blog post planning, tracking finances, household chores and maintenance, and any other way you can think of really.

So if you are feeling frustrated trying to use only one Filofax to contain your entire life, cut yourself some slack and consider branching out into multiple Filofaxes.

15 July 2012

I'm often see people questioning the ring sizes of different Filofax personal organisers for sale on Filofax USA. I sometimes end up 'throwing my toys out of my pram' in frustration that someone somewhere can't do the maths or math correctly to convert Metric millimetres in to old Imperial Inch fractions...

I've actually written to Filofax USA more than a few times pointing out the errors on their website.

So in a lazy afternoon moment I constructed a table to show how and why they get the measurements wrong:

Fraction

Imp

mm

mm

Filofax Ring Sizes

1

/

16

0.0625

1.5875

1.6

1

/

8

0.1250

3.1750

3.2

3

/

16

0.1875

4.7625

4.8

1

/

4

0.2500

6.3500

6.4

5

/

16

0.3125

7.9375

7.9

3

/

8

0.3750

9.5250

9.5

7

/

16

0.4375

11.1125

11.1

11 mm

1

/

2

0.5000

12.7000

12.7

13 mm

9

/

16

0.5625

14.2875

14.3

19

/

32

0.5938

15.0813

15.1

15 mm

5

/

8

0.6250

15.8750

15.9

11

/

16

0.6875

17.4625

17.5

3

/

4

0.7500

19.0500

19.1

19 mm

13

/

16

0.8125

20.6375

20.6

7

/

8

0.8750

22.2250

22.2

29

/

32

0.9063

23.0188

23.0

23 mm

15

/

16

0.9375

23.8125

23.8

63

/

64

0.9844

25.0031

25.0

25 mm

1

/

1

1.0000

25.4000

25.4

17

/

16

1.0625

26.9875

27.0

9

/

8

1.1250

28.5750

28.6

19

/

16

1.1875

30.1625

30.2

30 mm

10

/

8

1.2500

31.7500

31.8

So as you can see there is plenty of scope for who ever fills in the details in Imperial Factions of an Inch on which ever side of the Atlantic they happen to be to get it wrong...

Lets look at the standard size Personal ring size of 23 mm, you will often see this expressed as 7/8" or 15/16" neither of which is correct you have to go to 29/32nds of an inch to get reasonably close to 23 mm. Similarly 25 mm rings are sometimes described as 15/16ths or 1 inch rather than 63/64ths... I think 1 inch is the accepted 'practice'

Because Filofax (generic) don't go below an 1/16th of an inch in their Imperial measurements you will see that they can easily over or under estimate a ring size.

I wonder when the USA will move to metric measurement.... Steve runs for cover!